TOM XAVIER studied archaeology in Italy and Greece and law in England. He helped run ski mountaineering trips in New Hampshire and bicycling trips in Canada. As a lawyer, he worked on a giant fraud case in England and for the past two decades, he has produced concerts with young musicians from countries around the world. Tom draws on these experiences to write stories filled with magic and adventure. He loves writing books of discovery about girls and boys who travel to amazing places where they learn much about life and even more about themselves.

Would you risk everything just to be cool?

Young Duggan McDuggan really has no choice. Her habit of talking to trees has made her the most teased kid in her village. Duggan would love to stop the teasing but there’s no way she’s going to give up her tree friends. And so she’s worked out a daring plan to journey with her two best friends to Eshmagick, ancient realm of the Faeries. This will certainly stop the teasing. No one in five hundred years has made it there and back again.

For their dangerous journey, Duggan and her friends will need a Faerie guide. Unfortunately, legend says harming a Faerie will bring down a terrible curse and it’s hard to catch a Faerie without hurting it. But when you’re as desperate as Duggan, no curse is too scary to stop you.